


Not Expendable

by Sorryimnotthatkindofdoctor



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hank is a big ol' softy, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, connor/hank, could also just see them as good friends, hurt Connor, if ya squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 05:47:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16340921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorryimnotthatkindofdoctor/pseuds/Sorryimnotthatkindofdoctor
Summary: Connor is injured & learns he's "not expendable." Also, Hank is a big ol' softy, grumpy bear.





	Not Expendable

One aspect of deviant life Connor was still getting used to was pain. Before, he’d registered damage when it occurred, but his sensors hadn’t processed it as something distracting other than to diagnose major issues that might interfere with his programming or missions. Even when the deviant had pulled his thirium pump out in the kitchen at the TV Tower, he hadn’t registered it as pain, merely distress.

But now… now he understood what damage was. What it felt like – and there were different levels. That had been unexpected. A punch felt different from a slap. Stabbing was different from being shot. It all registered as damage, but now he felt it…

It was distracting.

He sat at his desk, fidgeting every few moments as pain skittered through his sensors. He had bright blue splotches on his arms & throat where the suspect he’d apprehended had grabbed him or punched him. A few circuits had cracked, thirium leaking out to create the effect of bruising on his skin. Aside from twinging when he shifted, they were hardly an issue.

But the hole in his shoulder was… noticeable. It prevented him from reaching for various things. It made sitting up straight painful, but also leaning back in the chair. He’d tried to play with his coin to distract himself, but it would appear that fingers & dexterity were directly related to whether or not one had a bullet wound in their shoulder. He’d also been disturbed to discover that he was getting blue blood smeared over his desk until he shoved a few napkins from Hank’s desk drawer into the wound.

He’d finally taken to sitting as still as possible. Hank was due back from a sensitivity course soon – Connor would ask him how such things were to be handled. Detective Reed had hardly seemed concerned when Connor had been injured. He hadn’t told the android to seek out repair. When he’d been damaged before, Connor had simply returned to Cyber Life & powered down into rest mode. When he’d woken up, he’d been good as new again.

He couldn’t go back to Cyber Life, he knew. But he also didn’t know if his damage was something he should seek repairs for or simply learn to work around them. He’d seen Hank do that, sometimes – claiming it was “just a fucking scratch” & then keep going until it didn’t hurt anymore.

As the end of the work day neared, Connor was more than happy to see Hank enter the bullpen. The grizzled detective sank into his chair, grunting.

“Fucking sensitivity training courses,” he muttered, pillowing his head on his arms.

“Lieutenant,” Connor started, sitting as still as possible.

“Whatever it is, Connor, it can fucking wait.” Hank didn’t look up. Connor watched the hands on the clock on the wall tick, even though he didn’t have to. He knew exactly what time it was & how many seconds passed before he spoke again.

“Lieutenant, I… I am not sure this can wait…”

“Well I am,” Hank interrupted. “I’ve spent the whole fucking day sitting around listening to a bunch of pussies whine & moan about feelings. Right now, I just wanna sit here & not give a damn about anything. Ok?”

Connor tried to keep still, but for some reason, the pain seemed to be growing more noticeable. It was harder to ignore it now. He’d been holding out for Hank to get here for so long with the idea that the detective would know what to do. He felt sort of lost to have Hank here & not be getting any kind of response.

“Hank… I don’t wish to bother you, but…” Connor tried to push himself to standing, but fell back in his chair when his shoulder proved incapable of helping shift his weight.

“Connor, for fuck’s sake – ” Hank started. The little sound of Connor falling back had him looking up. That was when he noticed the blue blood all down the android’s front & the way his LED was flashing a bright yellow. “SHIT!”

The older man was up & kneeling by Connor’s chair in seconds. He reached out, carefully reaching for his shoulder. “What happened, boy?”

“I received a few injuries earlier today,” Connor said, his LED slowly circling back to blue. He still hurt, but Hank was paying attention now. Hank would know what to do.

“Earlier today?” Hank pulled Connor’s shirt open, eyeing the bruises on his torso & throat. “Doing what? Why the fuck didn’t you get seen to then, idiot?”

“I went with Detective Reed to apprehend a criminal.” Connor blinked, keeping his focus on Hank. The older man looked upset & it made something in his circuits almost ache to think he’d disappointed the other man. “Detective Reed suggested I should go in alone to flush out the suspect.” Connor stopped talking as he once again registered the anger & irritation on Hank’s face.

“I’m sorry I was damaged, Lieutenant,” he said, his voice quiet.

Hank stood up & strode over to where Reed was finishing up at his desk. Connor tried to stand again, barely managing it as he heard Hank & Reed’s voices rising in volume. From his experience, that was never good. He looked over just in time to see Hank reach back & punch Reed right across the jaw, leaving the other detective sprawled out on the floor.

*** ***

An hour later, Connor held his arm tucked tight to his chest as Hank instructed, letting the detective help him out of the car & up the walk to Hank’s house. Hank growled an order at Sumo, keeping the big dog from jumping up & pawing at Connor the way he usually did when they came home. The dog whined & Connor reached down to carefully scratch behind Sumo’s ears before Hank had him sinking down into one of the kitchen chairs.

“Wait here,” Hank ordered, stomping off to the back of the house. Connor tried to keep himself calm – he wasn’t entirely sure what the emotions he was feeling were. Most of them were still new enough that he wasn’t always sure what to name them. He knew all the words for them, but knowing something in theory was a lot different than experiencing it he was finding out. He was still in pain, but he was growing accustomed to that one. It wasn’t clamoring for his attention as much. He felt sad, but he wasn’t sure why. And there was an anxious flutter in his system, a worry…

When Hank came back, he was still stomping heavily, but his hands were careful as they worked Connor’s shirt & jacket off. Connor was a little surprised to see an android repair kit on the table. He hadn’t even known Hank had any of those… The detective flipped open a book, squinting as he read before he looked at Connor’s shoulder. “Ok, kid… I think we can take care of this.”

Hank worked slowly, cursing occasionally as his big fingers tried to hold & manipulate the thin soldering tool inside Connor’s wound. Connor could feel the circuits being repaired – brief flashes of pain followed by the hum of his body regaining function. After a few moments, he flexed his fingers, pleased to note that motion didn’t cause pain as it had at the station.

“Thank you,” he said as Hank finished working on the front & then moved around to start working on the exit wound in the back of Connor’s shoulder. The detective merely grunted & Connor’s LED whirred yellow. He was fairly used to Hank not acknowledging his gratitude over little things, but this felt… different.

“I’m sorry,” he tried, instead, looking forward. Hank’s hands stilled for a second.

“Sorry for what, kid?”

“For… being damaged. For not seeking repair sooner. Detective Reed said – ”

“Fucking Reed,” Hank growled. “Should’ve broke the fucker’s jaw instead of his nose. Then I wouldn’t have to listen to the little shithead talk.”

Connor blinked before continuing. “I’m sorry you were suspended.”

Hank grunted out something that could have been a laugh. “Better than having to go to another one of those fucking sensitivity seminars,” he said. “Sides, that wasn’t your fault. That’s fucking Reed again. I’ll file sanctions on him. Or get you to… probably better if you do it.”

“Sanctions?” Connor tried to turn his head to look at Hank. “For what?”

“For getting you shot & then not seeing to your care,” Hank said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Anger colored his tone & Connor looked forward again.

“It was my fault I was damaged. I should have moved faster when I saw the suspect. And waiting for repair was… unpleasant, but I was not in danger of shutting down.” Connor fidgeted again, his fingers flexing. “I will do better next time, Hank.”

Hank finished up the last of the soldering, watching as Connor’s skin repaired itself now that the interior damage was done. He wouldn’t have a scar or even a scratch or dent – Hank wasn’t sure if that was something to be jealous of or not. He put the soldering tool down & reached for the packet of blue blood in the repair kit.

“There won’t be a next time,” Hank said, cracking open the seal on the packet & pouring it into a glass. He supposed he could’ve simply let Connor suck it from the pack or something, but it felt wrong to treat the android like a machine.

“Lieutenant?!” Connor’s LED cycled fast from blue to yellow to red, his eyes blinking. “Sir, I promise to be more careful. Faster. I can still do my job, sir…”

“Shut up & drink this, will ya?” Hank said, shoving the glass in Connor’s hand. He pulled his chair around & started wiping away the remnants of blue blood from the wound off Connor’s skin. “I didn’t mean you weren’t gonna work with me anymore. But there won’t be a next time of you getting sent in alone. You’re not… ‘expendable’.”

Hank growled the last word & Connor blinked, accessing his memory files. He had heard that word today… His scan retrieved the audio from just before Hank had punched Detective Reed. The other man had referred to Connor as being “expendable” as justification for sending him in alone…

Connor upended the glass & downed the contents, feeling the slight rush an infusion of thirium always brought to his system. He set it down on the table. Hank’s eyes were hard, but his touch was still soft. Careful, almost. Like the android was delicate.

“I am not expendable,” Connor said, watching the detective as he finished cleaning him off & started to toss the repair kit back together. “But I am sturdier than humans. I was able to withstand the damage whereas someone like Detective Reed would not. He would be out of commission for several days, at least.”

“He’s gonna be out anyway,” Hank said. “He’ll milk that broken nose for all it’s worth. Bastard.” The detective tossed the soiled cloth into the sink & turned around, crossing his arms. Connor stayed in his chair, hands folded carefully in his lap.

“I am sorry,” he tried again, not liking the fact that Hank was angry with him. He should have kept quiet about the damage & handled it himself or gone to a repair shop.

“Stop apologizing, for fuck’s sake.” Hank drug a hand over his face. “None of this is your fault, Connor. Ya get it? I’m not mad at you – well, ok. I’m pissed you fucking sat there bleeding & hurting all day. I’m pissed you didn’t tell Reed to shove it where the sun don’t shine.” He shrugged. “But I’m not mad at you for getting hurt or ‘not performing optimally’ or whatever shit’s running through that mess a wires you call a brain.”

Hank sank back into his own chair, one hand reaching out to land on Connor’s knee. The android twitched slightly, eyes wide at the detective’s outburst. “You’re not replaceable now. Get it? You can’t just upload your head to a new body anymore – not that I was all that crazy about you getting yourself killed all the damned time before. But now… you get knocked off now, Connor, & you ain’t coming back, get it?”

Connor’s LED flickered red for a moment. He hadn’t actually considered that. His hands tightened their grip on one another. Hank squeezed his knee & gave it a pat.

“Yeah. I mean, you can’t be scared to live now that you can die – that ain’t fuckin’ living. Trust me.” Hank’s eyes darkened a bit before he focused back on Connor. “But ya gotta start being more careful, savvy?”

Connor nodded, the motion slow. “I… savvy, lieutenant.”

“Good,” Hank said. The detective sat back, running a hand over his hair. “I need a fucking drink. Or ten. Hell, I ain’t going to work tomorrow, so…” He stood & fetched a bottle & a glass. “And you ain’t, neither.” He pointed the bottle at Connor. “You’re on injured reserve list.”

“But I am no longer injured,” Connor said, rotating his shoulder to prove his stability. “Your repairs were most thorough.”

“Injured reserve list,” Hank repeated. “You try to leave tomorrow morning, I’ll fucking shoot you myself. Not about to let you be down there with those assholes without someone to watch your back.”

Connor sat at the table, watching as Hank lumbered over to the couch & sank down. He unscrewed the cap, pouring the liquor into the glass before he grabbed the remote & turned on the game. Sumo nudged at Connor’s hand before moving to lay on top of Hank’s feet. The detective grumbled a bit & nudged until Sumo let him kick off his shoes before the dog was right back atop him.

The android stood & moved to the laundry basket at the end of the couch. He pulled on one of Hank’s old Detroit PD hoodies that the detective had let him have. It was warm & worn & soft against his skin. Connor liked it. It made him feel… safe.

Like Hank often did.

“Thank you,” Connor said after a few moments, his eyes on the television, but not really focused on the game. Hank grunted & shifted until his shoulder leaned against Connor.

“Shut up, kid.”

END


End file.
